Lookout Mountain Mirror
Share your
news with us!
  • Home
  • Happenings
    • Lookout Community
    • School News
    • TN & GA Town News
    • Home & Garden
    • Local History
    • Good Reads
    • Recipe Roundup
    • Arts & Leisure
    • Travel
    • Movies with Merrile
    • Happenings at the Club
  • Advertising
  • Calendar
  • Subscriptions
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Give & Support

Lookout Mountain
​Happenings

Check back often for up-to-date news, events and article previews between issues of the monthly Lookout Mountain Mirror.

Follow us on Facebook for more news

“To Cave or to Spelunk? That Is the Question”

1/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of Chattanooga’s best assets is its great outdoors. Some may argue that it is its best asset, especially in light of Outside magazine naming Chattanooga America’s best town ever to live, work and play in, not once but two times. Chattanooga was first bestowed the honor in 2011, then again in 2015, making the Scenic City the only city to ever win the title twice. Pretty nice endorsement, wouldn’t you say?

There is a plethora of outdoor adventure opportunity ideas in Chattanooga, from hiking to biking to climbing to paddling the Tennessee River or soaring high above the best town ever from a colorful hang glider. Have you considered a bird’s eye view of what makes Chattanooga the outdoor mecca that it is?

The possibilities of experiencing our town can seem endless, if not overwhelming, for the adventure seeker, much like the proverbial kid at the candy counter. Where to begin with all of the fantastic options? But what about the adventure option not so easily seen, the out-of-obvious-sight one, but the one that runs rampant throughout the region, often hidden in plain sight under the area’s varied vegetation and terrain, the option known as caving, or is it spelunking?

To understand why these terms are often used interchangeably, allowing for confusion, a vocabulary lesson is warranted. In the United States and Canada, caving refers to the recreational exploring of wild, usually non-commercialized, cave systems, while the term spelunking, in contrast, refers to the scientific exploration of wild, usually non-commercialized cave systems. Spelunking arises from the world of speleology, which is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment. So, if the goal were to explore a cave recreationally, the term caving would be the more appropriate term to use. If the goal is to scientifically study a cave, which usually results in some kind of formal publication as a result of the exploration, then the term spelunking is the more appropriate term choice. By the way, potholing is the British term for the sport of cave exploration.

Confused yet? No matter what term is used for cave exploration, be warned and don’t let the adjective recreational fool you into a false sense of comfort. Depending on the cave being visited, the challenges will be varied, from complete absence of light beyond the cave entrance to uneven and often quickly changing terrain, pitches, squeezes and water hazards. Caving is a specialized sport that requires training, attention to detail, preparedness and lots of practice with an experienced caver(s) before ever stepping foot into a wild, non-commercialized cave.

There are over 17,000 known caves in the southeastern United States, with upwards of 7,000 of those caves located within an hour’s drive of Chattanooga in the region known as TAG, the acronym for the tri-state area of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Thanks to the unique geography along the western side of the Appalachian mountain range, a vast and varied network of caves has been created under the mountains; this cave system entices caving enthusiasts from near and far to experience some of nature’s coolest underground playgrounds.

And just how does this area’s geography give rise to such a preponderance of caves? Caves form as a result of water wearing away rock, but not just any rock will do. It has to be a rock type that dissolves in water. Some of the geological composition of the region is a combination of sandstone stacked on limestone. Sandstone does not dissolve in water, but limestone does, so eons ago, when water started rolling down the mountains, which are made of sandstone, it reached the cracks and crevices in the limestone mountain bed, and, as time went on, huge voids resulted as the limestone eroded away and cave systems appeared. Trivia tidbit, technically speaking: a cave is a space large enough for a human to enter, and is deeper than its opening is wide, so not all openings in the ground are caves, but all caves are openings in the ground!

Caving is a thrilling sport that offers a glimpse into the hidden world of extremes, a world cut off from the outside world, for the most part. Animals living in total darkness resemble creatures from the latest sci-fi movie, odd and amazing geological formations known as stalactites and stalagmites abound everywhere and mind-bogglingly enormous rooms, some of nature’s finest architecture, are just a few of the exotic discoveries afforded by caving. Some of the not so exotic findings, such as dilapidated moonshine stills, makeshift ladders and trash, are manmade, remnants of past explorers or dwellers in the hidden underworld. Many caves even have an historical significance. Case in point, Lookout Mountain Cave, aka Lookout Mountain Caverns, is the second longest cave known in Chattanooga and was once owned by Robert Cravens. During the Civil War, Cravens contracted with the Confederate Government and rented his cave to the Confederate Nitre and Mining Bureau, which mined saltpeter, a main ingredient in gunpowder (black powder) for delivery to the troops.

Caving is also a sport immune to bad weather. Temperature of the caves in the TAG region maintains a consistent 55 to 60 degrees, making it an excellent outdoor adventure on which to embark on those extremely hot, cold or yucky weather days. Caving can be a perfect activity for any weather.

If the thought of squeezing through tiny spaces in the dark takes your breath away, then caving may not be for you, but for those whose heart doesn’t skip a beat, here are two subspecialties of caving: vertical caving and cave diving. How’s your sympathetic nervous system holding up now with those visuals?

Chattanooga has numerous resources for the individual who is intrigued by the notion of adding caving to his or her repertoire of outdoor adventures skillset. For the inexperienced, guided cave tours at commercial caverns or through local outfitters are an excellent introduction to the world of caving and provide the gamut of experiences, from easy walks on wide walkways to getting down and dirty on a wild cave adventure.

No matter what you call it, exploring caves is a physically challenging, mind stimulating, visually rewarding heck of a good time. Now, the only question left to ask is, will you keep it nice and clean, or will you get down and dirty?
​
by JD Harper is a local author, tour guide for Sweet Magnolia Tours, co-founder of Chattanooga Youth Gallery (CYG) and a physical therapist. Glint, her debut novel, is set in Chattanooga amid its rich Civil War history and rock climbing culture.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Article Categories

    All
    Arts
    Business
    Chattanooga
    Church
    Education
    Educational
    Family Friendly
    Festival
    Food
    Fundraiser
    Garden Club
    Government
    History
    Holidays
    Jobs
    Lookout Mountain
    Nonprofit
    Outdoors
    Riverview
    Shopping
    Sports


    Archives

    January 2023
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

Stay up-to-date

Join our email list today for the latest news and events between issues!

Contact US

Mailing address: P.O. Box 99 Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
Physical address: 112 N. Watauga, Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
p. (423) 822-6397
Visit our sister paper: Signal Mountain Mirror

Stay Connected